Google's £1bn UK headquarters opening in London in 2015

Google plans to extend its reach into the UK by building a new headquarters in London. The Mountain View-based company has completed a £1bn deal to build the HQ next to King's Cross rail station on 2.4 acres of land.

The Financial Times reports that Google has confirmed the news, and plans to build the 11-storey building to consolidate work from its two other offices across London. Google will keep its office in Manchester.

“This is a big investment by Google, we’re committing further to the UK - where computing and the web were invented. It’s good news for Google, for London and for the UK,” said Matt Brittin, vice-president for northern and central Europe at Google in a statement.

Google will begin construction on the 1 million square-foot building by the end of the year. Construction will continue into 2014, and staff will move operations into the building sometime during 2015.

Skype, Oracle and Amazon are among other companies to take up large amounts of office space in London recently, however both Google and Amazon have been criticised for dodging taxes in the UK.

Such a project would surely force the company to admit it has a serious presence in the UK.

Currently staff are based in two locations in the city, in Victoria, down the road from Microsoft, and in Holborn by Tottenham Court Road.

We can't wait to see mock-ups of the new building, as it is sure to complement the awesome work life at Google. The Victoria office, where engineers are based, and Holborn, which houses YouTube, both have stunning offices.